After fifteen
films of mostly local acclaim, the 1956 prize-winning comedy Smiles of a
Summer Night at last ushered in an international audience for director
Ingmar Bergman. Set in turn-of-the-century Sweden, four women and four men
attempt to juggle the laws of attraction amidst their daily bourgeois life.
When a weekend in the country brings them all face to face, the women ally to
force the men's hands in their matters of the heart, exposing their
pretentions and insecurities along the way. Chock full of flirtatious
propositions and sharp-witted wisdom delivered by such legends of the Swedish
screen as Gunnar Björnstrand, Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, and Ulla
Jacobsson, Smiles of a Summer Night is one of film history's great
tragicomedies, a bittersweet view of the transience of human carnality.

The only comparative issue with the Blu-ray
is that the 2004 Criterion DVD was so strong. So the Blu-ray
looks great but doesn't excel as demonstratively over the SD
counterparts as we have seen in past examples. It's improvement in grain
visibility and other visual film-like qualities will depend more on the
capabilities of your system or your discerning eye. I suspect
that many would be hard-pressed to differentiate. The DVD had some, but
not a preponderance, of noise and, predictably, the 1080P transfer has
less.

The audio is lossless through the Blu-raywith a fine linear PCM mono track at 1152 kbps but like the video you would
have to really focus on the attributes to identify a
strong improvement over the 7-year older NTSC DVD.
Typically, the Criterion offers optional English
subtitles on their region 'A'-locked disc.

Extras are the same as the previous
Criterion disc with the 4-minute video introduction to
the film by director Ingmar Bergman from his studio at
Faro Island, then there is an excellent 15-minute video
conversation between Bergman scholar Peter Cowie and
writer Jörn Donner, executive producer of Fanny and
Alexander, an original theatrical trailer and the
26-page liner notes booklet featuring an essay by
theater and film critic John Simon and a 1961 review by
film critic Pauline Kael.

The Blu-ray
is only a dollar more than the corresponding Criterion
DVD (at the writing of this review) and is surely worth
more than that but those who already own the SD edition
should judge based on their sensitivity to the
audio/visual improvements or how fervent their adoration of the film.
There is no question that it looks and sounds better -
but the degree is not as significant a superiority as we
have seen from the upgraded format in the past.
First time owners of the film for home theater usage
shouldn't hesitate in picking up the Criterion - another
Bergman classic.

***

ON THE DVDs: The Tartan is a
shade 'heavier' - thicker and closer to saturation. The
Criterion is clearly sharper; compare the tiara
in the 3rd set of captures. Brightness and black level on the Criterion
are also better; highlights have a lovely glow. Its only
fault is the slight cropping. The minor softness of Tartan's
transfer is masking the grain. Both are very good though, but as
commonplace - Criterion is the superior.